SREB Evaluates Leadership Efforts

Schools Need Good Leaders Now: State Progress in Creating a Learning-Centered School Leadership System

Only three states in the South—Alabama, Louisiana, and Maryland—are making promising progress toward producing excellent leadership systems that help improve student achievement, concludes a report by the Atlanta-based Southern Regional Education Board, a nonprofit organization that advises the 16 states in the region on how to improve education.

The 16 states were rated on a scale ranging from “no progress” to “substantial progress,” the highest possible rating, across six categories that evaluated a state’s ability to strengthen the curriculum, recruit effective educators, establish better leadership preparation programs, and continually offer training for principals.

Louisiana was the only state to get a “promising progress” rating, the second- highest possible, in all six major categories. Alabama received a “promising” rating on five of the six indicators, and Maryland achieved that rating on four.

None of the 16 states showed “substantial progress” in any of the six categories.

The report also pinpointed steps that policymakers in each state can take to achieve higher levels of success in these categories.

The research for the report was conducted by the SREB Learning-Centered Leadership Program from 2002 through 2006 and was based on academic articles and interviews with state education agency officials.